couldn't keep it up. and that was crucial i think from the standpoint of the f.d.i. was saying to the soviets, we can do it. .

>> the group sponsoring this event, the young america's foundation was created to promote conservative ideas on college campuses. >> it captures the reagan legacy of strategy which the tax bill that came up. it was going through the house,

first because that is where tax bills originate did the democrats wrote a terrible bill. it was a bill that all of us did not want to vote for the republican side. trent lott and myself and a couple of other people, we did not want to vote against the president directly, so we arranged to defeat the rule under which the bill would be debated. that killed the bill. it created consternation. the president wanted to come up and reason with his republican friends in congress. on the appointed day, he came up, but first he had a stop to have to make in north carolina. he had to preside at a memorial service for some of our servicemen had been killed. when he walked into one of those

large rooms, he walked in and began talking about patriotism and sacrifice and what it means to be an american. it was so effective that there was not a dry eye in the crowd. then, he stopped and he said, "about the tax bill." [laughter] they all switched 70 votes. he never said a word about the tax bill. they took it to the floor and passed it incentive over to the senate. [laughter] [applause] again, it is always easy with the hindsight of history

because, in terms of the tax bill, the 25% across the bill over three years, that was hugely controversial. that would have increased the deficit. from your vantage point as one of the most conservative members of congress, how did you approach analyzing that bill? did you have any concerns or had you become a supply-side advocate by that point? >> of by then, i was the supply- side advocate. i spent too many hours with jack kemp. >> to get a word in edgewise? >> eventually. i was a great believer in the tax law and it was vital for us to remember that the private sector benefited. these are not projects on your local highway. it was, i thought, a very

important piece of legislation. the president, what he did, one of the secrets to his success was that the democratic caucus looked different in those days there were a significant number of boll weevil democrats, guys like phil gramm. he had been elected the same year i was in 1978 and came to town and believed in a lot of the principles that president reagan believed in. he signed on and join us and we had a number of democrats who worked with us and help us pass that legislation. for the first couple of years of that first term, we actually had a situation where republicans were in the minority in the

house and our conservative friends put together a majority on economic issues. it was enormously successful. it was a big tribute to ronald reagan. democrats overreacted and penalize some of the guys on the other side, so phil didn't an interesting, principled move. he resigned as a member of congress, announced he was going to be a republican and went back home and bring in a special reception as a republican to replace himself. in other words, he switched parties, but he was honest of garlic -- honest about it. i always thought that was a principal live, but it was that kind of thing that helped a lot. nowadays, the democratic party

has drifted further left and you have someone like nancy pelosi's speaker. the fact is, a lot of those seats are now held by republicans and that is where we build our majority from because a lot of those members either converted or replaced by republicans and that is how we get to the numbers that we have today. >> we have some questions from our audience of the collected before the dinner this evening and they are contemporary topics, so i would ask a few of them for you. we have two questions on egypt they both -- on egypt. they both have a question about the uprising.

in light of the bush doctrine trying to spread democracy around the world, how much of that influenced you to what is going on in egypt right now? how is the administration doing in the delicate balance of trying to manage the transition from authoritarianism to democracy in that country? >> that is an interesting question. the way that i think about it -- i think it is important for all of us to remember that this issue is going to be resolved by the egyptians. a lot of people have opinions outside, other governments, but the bottom line is that in the end, what ever comes will be determined by the people of egypt. we need to remember that. i also think it is important for

us to remember that if you look at it from u.s. interests, we clearly believe in the notion of democracy and freedom and we think it is the best system devised by man and our hearts are gladdened when somebody else operates in a similar fashion. there are also other issues that are important at the same time. what i remember -- i will say at the output, i have known the egyptian president for many years. we worked together in 1990 when president bush sent to saudi arabia to arrange for the deployment of u.s. forces so that we could defend saudi arabia and the persian gulf and eventually liberate kuwait.

my second opportunity was to meet with the president of egypt and there was consternation the route the region and many of the arab nations signed on with the united states. united nations supported it. the egyptians, the syrians, all of these folks sent forces as part of our coalition. the president of egypt signed up for overflight rights so we could get aircraft in the region for access to the suez canal for naval forces. we ended up sending two -- he ended up sending two divisions of the egyptian army to liberate kuwait. he has been a good friend and ally of the united states and we need to remember that. it is also important, when you get into the circumstances, that

you try to have an open channel of communications that is private. it is very hard for some foreign leader to act on u.s. advice in a visible way. if you tell me as the president of the united states that i have to do something, my people might think that i am not my own man and that i do the bidding of the americans which is the wrong way to go. there needs to be -- there is a reason why a lot of diplomacy is conducted in secret. there is all of good reasons for confidentiality. i think that he needs to be treated as he deserved over the years because he has been a good friend to the united states and to a lot of other folks that we

do business with and work with. you're looking for balance, here. i do hope that there is a channel of communication. >> do you think the egyptian president can survive? >> i do not want to make a prediction because i do not know. i also think that there comes a time for everybody when it is time to hang it up and move on so someone else can take over. it is true if you are running a company or if you are a vice president or if your president. you get to the point where the years of and things become tougher to deal with, but as i say that, that is a decision not only the egyptians can make and i think that they will handle it in an appropriate fashion.

they have been good friends and allies to the united states and we need to treat all of them with the respect of the desert. >> another area that a number of our questioners wanted to know about was afghanistan. the president has said that he is going to not have a commitment of additional american forces. general petraeus is not involved in running our forces there. from what you said, is the president doing enough in your judgment to insure that we are successful in afghanistan and pakistan? >> well, first of all, i think that the general petraeus appointment was the obvious choice.

he was a great choice and he will do a great job. i think that the surge of forces that the administration has committed to and is now implementing is a plus. the key is that when i think about afghanistan, is a very difficult set of circumstances. it is one of the poorest countries in the world did it is a leading producer of heroin. it has never really had a strong central government. you're not going to get a full- blown democracy overnight out of a place that starts as the van the whole less afghanistan is under normal circumstances. on the other hand, we have to get it right over the long haul because there is the base of operations for al qaeda.

it is where the terrorists trained. it is important that they not revert back to the safe harbor for such a worry for terrorists trying to kill americans. it is a worthy objective. i would like to see the administration not get tangled up in deadlines for when they will start to withdraw forces. that says to people in afghanistan and the region that the united states is not going to stay the course for it if they wait this out, they will -- we will pack up and go home and i think that would be a big mistake. that would create questions about the worth of american commitments and whether or not we are prepared to do what we need to do. in the end, we cannot send forces everywhere in the world power we have limited resources.

-- in the world. we have limited resources. we need to help the locals get into the fight and take control of their own circumstances and be able to maintain the sanctity of their sovereign state. pakistan is a related problem because they are neighbors with afghanistan there is a very large population with a strong streak of islamist fundamentalism. the have a significant stockpile of nuclear weapons. if pakistan ever goes to the dark side, we are for to have a big problem on our hands. we cannot afford not to be involved in that part of the world. we need to be there. there is an awful lot at stake. those are all subject for debate.

we walked away once before when i was on the intel committee in the house in supporting the afghans against the soviets. it worked. we drove the soviets out of afghanistan and that everyone turned and walked away. the next thing you know, you have a taliban government in afghanistan. in 1996, they invited in osama bin london -- osama bin live in -- bin laden. that terminated -- that culminated in 9/11. we need to talk a little bit about your views on terrorism and preventing terrorist acts.

>> are your criticisms still valid? >> the reason that i spoke out on their counter-terrorism policy was that in the very first day in office, president obama was talking about how he was going to scrap terrorist surveillance programs and the events interrogation techniques and so forth for the thing that really offended me was that they started talking about prosecuting the people of the agency that have been carrying out our policies. it was approved by the president of united states and the national security council. there were talking about going after and forcing these people

to hire lawyers and prosecuting them for having followed lawful orders of the president of united states. what that says to people who get a difficult order to execute and you tell them that have to go perform a certain duty in -- and responsibility on behalf of the united states government and they have to look over their shoulder to decide whether or not, we have a change in the administration, they will be prosecuted. it is a huge mistake. the good news is, i think, that they have backed off on some of their more outrageous propositions. i notice that guantanamo bay is still open. [laughter] [applause] the notion that we broke for law on the programs that we have

in place was simply not true. we would very carefully for the justice department which is what you do in these things and we went and got their view of what the statutes provided for, things like a terrorist surveillance program for example. this letter is intercept incoming calls and communications between suspected members and who they were contacting in the united states. we put the whole program together and then we briefed the congress on. but the senior leadership and the chairman and ranking members in the house and senate and the others without the collective leadership as well and had them down to the white house and i would brief them on a regular basis. the bigger group that we had them, when some controversy developed over the program, we set them down in the situation

room, briefed them on what we were doing and asked them if they think we should continue this program. they were unanimous. when i asked if we should go to congress and ask for a grant of additional authorization to continue doing this and they said absolutely not. they said it would tell the in a will we were doing. nobody objected. it all can about litter what got caught up in the 2008 campaign what we will see -- campaign. what we will see is that we will not have these kind of decisions about counter-terrorism policy

the we talked about during the last campaign -- that we talked about during the last campaign. >> let me ask you a question about domestic policy and the bush a administration. a lot of people at this conference have made this comment to me and i know that you have heard it. it is not new to you. a lot of conservatives think that all the good things that the bush of administration did, and there were many of them, the one area where he could have done better was in controlling government spending. they say that that sort of undermined our brand as republicans and that led to the bad results that our party had in 2006 and 2008. the have a comment on that -- do you have a comment on that?

>> i cannot argue completely against it. the fact of the matter was that we had a republican congress for several of those years. when the question would come up if you have a veto for spending bill, it was all about what we would accept. if you say you were going to veto that bill, we will send a different one. there was a natural inclination because we have both the white house and the house and the senate that tried to cap the notion of out and out conflict. i think that we could have done a better job on spending. i will be the first to admit it. when we got into prescription drug benefits the objective was

that we would grant additional benefits. anyone who has health problems, you saw an improvement. this can be part of the package. we wanted significant reform in the medicare pro gram. i think that the criticism had some justification. the other thing that i referenced. after 9/11, we believe very deeply that we had to undertake

a lot of activity to make the nation safe. everything from setting up the home when security department to military operation in afghanistan. there is a lot of stuff that we have to do and it was expensive. it saved thousands of lives that would have otherwise been threatened if we have not responding as aggressively as we did. i am glad to see that the republicans did this. >> you may want to save this answer for your book. when gov. bush asked you to run with him as his vice president,

were you surprised, shocked? the two except immediately? what can you tell us about that meeting? >> well, i have talked about that before. so i will talk about it again. [laughter] approached by an associate if i would allow my name to be considered by said know. i had a good job and i was happy living in dallas. i had health problems and that would be an issue. i will then in the oil business. that would be an issue. we are both residents of taxes. that would be an issue. i had to go back and register in

wyoming. it is a good thing that i did. if i had stayed in taxes as a texas president, we would not have been able to count the texas electoral votes and we would have a bush/lieberman presidency. that are not bad guys, but she would not want them in the presidency. [laughter] then the governor called me and asked if i would help him find somebody. i told him that i could do that. a temporary assignment and we could get it done in a couple of months and i can go back to doing what i want to do which is run the company. so, we went through that whole process and we ended up going down to the ranch outside of

crawford before the have the new house built. they have the little frame house that they were living in. we spent the money reviewing -- the morning reviewing all the candidates. it was about 120 degrees in the shade in texas. he turned to me and said that in the solution to this problem. i needed to work harder to find somebody. he made it clear that he wanted me to be considered. we need to see what we have to do it if we are to make myself available. i had to get registered in

wyoming and we had to get the doctors involved. i said one other thing. i want to come down to austin and sit down with you and whoever else you might like and tell you why i am a bad choice. he said ok. we did all this stuff and then i went down to austin and sat down with the president and karl and laid out the brief before me. wyoming only had three electoral votes. we went through that whole exercise and carl agreed with me. i went back to dallas and within a day or two, got a phone call early in the morning.

it was the governor saying that he would be to run as his vice presidential candidate. i often have the suspicion that he never really gave a after the first request to earlier in the year -- gave up after the first request earlier in the year. the thing that changed my mind and affected my judgment was that i worked with him for a time of several months and i could observe his mind working about what he wanted in a vice president. this was a guy who was not going down the normal path in picking a vice presidents. -- picking vice-presidents.

johnson could not go to meetings when he was vice president. he was not just worried about the electoral college vote and the politics of the whole process, he was really looking for somebody who could serve alongside him and be a participant in the process and get actively engaged and he liked my background and my ribs and a and my experience. -- and i recommend -- and my resume and my experience. he told me to get involved in whatever i wanted to be involved in. it sounded very attractive if i can put it into those terms.

he kept his word. we have integrated status -- integrated staffs it was not clear sailing all the way. we argued about things. i always got to voice my view and he always made the decisions to read it was all things considered, for me, absolutely gratifying. i loved it. [applause] >> we have just a couple of minutes left, but there were a couple of questions i wanted to get to. we have a lot of young people in the audience. a number of them ask questions along the lines of what advice you would have for them that are very interested in politics and what to do something for their country.

for those a want to take part in public service. >> do it. [applause] >> i started out and i was going to be an academic. i thought i was going to be a schoolteacher. not that there is anything against school teachers, it is honest worke. there are a lot of internship's out there and there were not many and when i was out there. their only two in wyoming in the state government and i got one of them for 40 days for the state legislature. now, there are tremendous opportunities out there all the time for young people who want to start out and get some experience. put your name on the ballot. start at any level. you do not have to be president of the united states the first time out to have a major impact on events.

you can do it in your local community or the school board or the state legislature. it is a very rare privilege that most of us come to appreciate the more that we travel and get out around the world and see what is going on out there. there are a lot of troubles that a lot of people have. it is whenever you make of it. you get out there and spent time and effort and resources serving. there are a lot of ways to serve. it does not have to be a successful political war. a lot of what is going on here, we bring youngsters in, you give them exposure to the legacy of ronald reagan and to the ideas

and principles that he operated in accordance with. it is a tremendous privilege to be able to live in a society like that and it will only be what it has been for all of us to the extent that we get actively involved and that next generation comes along and we have the obligation to pass along to the next generation in the best possible shape we can leave ait. young folks have to see if they can do it better than we did. >> it was one to win the super bowl tomorrow? >> packers, packers. [applause] >> i am not sure there is unanimity on that.

join me in thanking the vice president. [applause]

>> we are so honored to have the vice president with us on this momentous occasion. i can tell you that many people in the room have disparate i was hanging on every word. we are going to be serving and then move onto the second portion of our program. the president is well known to have a chocolate cake stashed somewhere in the rare case that it was somebody's birthday. we are one to serve one of the president's favorite, chocolate cake will serve that very quickly and then we will introduce our next guest.

>> we heard from former vice president dick cheney in conversation with the chairman of the reagan ranch for of governors. the former vice president talked about witnessing president reagan's path to the presidency and the gulf war. he also mentioned his looming deadline as he mentioned his rent -- his memoirs. >> you can see the vice president's remarks later tonight at about 1:30 a.m. eastern time here on c-span. c-span is a private nonprofit

company created in 1979 by the cable television agency as a public service. tonight, we will bring the madeleine albright, tom ridge, and microsoft chairman bill gates on foreign assistance. then, another look at the 100th anniversary of the birthday of ronald reagan. first-come attributes from the senate floor and then live coverage of dick cheney at the banquet in santa barbara, california. >> sunday, when newsmakers, janet napolitano on border issues. that is at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern here on c-span. >> the whole environment of politics have come apart. it had become polluted and destroyed and violent. >> q&a on sunday, the art of the

possible. >> we wanted to show another side of this. everyone remembers humphrey as someone who was looking lyndon johnson's boots all the time and have no mind of his own. >> you're watching c-span, bringing new politics and public affairs every morning. we have washington journal about the news of the day, collecting you with policymakers and journalists and elected officials. watch live coverage of the u.s. house on week days. on the weekends, you can see our signature interview programs. on saturdays "the communicators." on sundays, "q&a" and "prime

minister's questions. it is all searchable and our video library. c-span, a public service created by american cable companies. >> former secretary of state madeleine albright and former homeland security secretary tom ridge were honored by a group called the u.s. global leadership coalition. the event also included remarks by bill gates. all three speakers stressed the importance of foreign aid, economic prosperity and national security. abc news and ncr analyst cokie roberts were the speakers. this is one hour 10 minutes.

>> thank you, sarah and george. that was lovely. in listening to you, only the living secretaries of state write letters on things unimaginative. i'm from louisiana. how grateful you are to have thomas jefferson's name on a letter. you can go with it. some of you wouldn't like buchanan maybe, but it would still work, i think. and actually, it's no stranger than having this group of people in one room.

because this is absolutely the strange bedfellows coalition, and as it has been for many years and a very effective strange bunch of bedfellows you are. what i love about this organization is that it's so practical. and, you know, the people you're honoring tonight, madeleine albright and tom ridge, are such wonderful examples of that. people with great ideas and wonderful vision, but also the practicality of getting things done. and that's what this is all about. people in the business community who are here understand that to do business in a country is much better than to do it in a country where people are educated and healthy and able to participate in civil society, in a way where you don't have to make choices between stability and democracy. something that we are facing right now, of course, in egypt. where true stability comes from an active civil society where everyone participates, not just a pretend democracy, a pretend civil society. certainly includes, if not expects, the participation of

women. and so that is, you know, certainly the enlightened self- interest of the business community here. for the non-governmental organization, we're the people that know how to deliver the education and the health care and the tools for building a civil society. for the faith-based community, everybody here involved in faith knows that that is -- this is the right thing to do. so the military community, everybody understands that it is also in our own national security to be pursuing development around the world. and so, this organization has been great. has done a great job of putting all these communities together and really lobbying for greater assistance around the world. this year, you've got your work cut out for you. it is going to be a tough,

tough year. all of you are going to have to work very, very hard in order to keep it going. but that is what part of what tonight is all about. and it's a time to both celebrate and to rededicate to that kind of hard work. so we are going to start with honoring the people who have worked so hard on it and have our celebrations, and so we will start with our co-chairs, who will introduce our honorees. the hundreds of n.g.o.'s, who are members of the coalition, include care and the president and c.e.o. of care is dr. gayle, and she is co-chair of tonight's dinner. she brings a lifetime of public service in the fight against hiv/aids and other decides to an organization who we all know

very well and whose mission has been dedicated to ending global poverty. and the hundreds of businesses that are here tonight and development professionals who are part of the coalition is represented by robin lineberger, the c.e.o. of deloitte federal services. she oversees a $1.2 billion operation with 6,000 employees dedicated to assisting federal agencies and meeting the most difficult challenges. so please welcome these leading members of the u.s. global leadership coalition who are demonstrating the importance of international affairs. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming helin gayle to the podium. [applause] >> wow. this is fabulous. good evening. it's so wonderful to be here with so many friends and colleagues and be here for what

is an incredibly important event. i'm delighted to be here with my dinner co-chair, robin lineberger, as we honor two extraordinary individuals, secretary madeleine albright, and secretary tom ridge. they are both proud members of the u.s. global leadership coalition. that's what brings us here together tonight, along with all of you, because we believe in this passionate sense that america can help to make a better and safer world and that our role as the united states is critical in making this world better, safer, and more peaceful. as a founding member of u.s.

g.o.c., care knows that the united states is and can be a global force for good. we see it every day in the work that we do around the world in our mission to end global poverty. whether it's providing basic education, preventing the spread of hiv/aids and other

diseases, increasing access to clean water, or providing economic opportunities for girls and women in poor communities around the world. our work is a reflection of some of america's most cherished principles. compassion, equal rights, freedom from oppression, and the chance for everyone to fulfill their potential. we all know that this work is not just the right thing to do, but it's the smart thing to do. it is the best return on investment. tonight, it is my great privilege to introduce our first honoree, secretary madeleine albright. throughout her career as secretary of state, ambassador to the u.n., and as an educator, she has shown an unshakable belief in america. in the power of democracy. she has worked her entire life to demonstrate and promote america's strengths and humanitarian spirit. secretary albright's work has been a personal inspiration for me.

and her commitment to social justice, peace, and the rights of the poor and the marginalized has impacted countless lives on every corner of the globe. as secretary of state, she went toe the toe with dictator -- toe-to-toe with dictators, and each time the man did the same thing, peace and stability for all people, education for girls and women, and democracy as a path for a better and safer world. secretary albright has been a powerful force in advancing our civilian power, never missing an opportunity to stress the importance of the international budget, which we're all here to make sure that we hold steady to our national interest. she knows the value of investing in the developing world. she is an unwavering champion for people living in poor communities, and she is an outspoken voice for girls and women. and her ongoing leadership and wise consult to the u.s. g.c. has been invaluable. but those of us here in this room are not her only fans. i'd like to introduce a very special guest who would like to share his thoughts about this incredible, remarkable woman. >> i am honored to be a part of this evening to recognize the great public servant, the

wonderful leader, the terrific friend, secretary madeleine albright. throughout her extraordinary life and career, madeleine has always stood up for what's most critical to our nation's interest and the long-term welfare, working alongside our military and our diplomatic efforts to advance our national security. madeleine was one of the earliest foreign policy thinkers to recognize the important role of our development economic aid and diplomacy in building a better and safer world. one of her greatest legacies as secretary of state is a broad

bipartisan consensus for a smart power approach to foreign policy that utilizes all the tools we have available in meeting the global challenges that we face today. i thank the u.s. global leadership coalition for the very important work that you do to support our development and diplomatic efforts around the world. to a strong, effective international affairs budget. we're going to need you this year more than ever. i thank you for making the habit of honoring the women i care most about. hillary was thrilled to be your honoree last year, and i must say you have made another excellent selection in 2011. i would also like to congratulate tonight's other honoree tom ridge, and thank him for his good work. madeleine, once again, i congratulate you. i thank you for your service to the nation, to the world, to me, and for your unbelievable friendship. enjoy an evening well-deserved. bless you all. [applause] >> so it is with my deepest admiration and respect, my privilege to present my shero, secretary madeleine albright

with the usglc's leadership award. [applause] >> you know, the award and >> let mealbright's just read this. you know, the award and secretary albright's accomplishments speak for herself, but let me just read what it says here. the u.s. global leadership coalition salutes secretary of state madeleine albright for her vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to elevating development and

diplomacy and strengthening the u.s. international affairs budget. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much for your kind words, and thank you very much for the award. and happy ground hog day to you all. [laughter] it's great to see so many friends. i have to say that i loved the message from president clinton, and i have to tell you this, that whenever we had to argue for our budget, we first went to the director of o.m.b. and

we would all sit there and make our arguments to him, and then we would have a special meeting with the president to make our arguments to him. and then i would always call him on christmas eve and say, could you just add a little bit more? it is christmas. and he did. [laughter] so we had a special relationship. [applause] my message this evening is simple. and i'm very proud to be a member of the u.s. global leadership coalition, where we were bipartisan even before it was cool. and not only are we bipartisan, we also come from so many different sectors of society and we include people who have served both in and outside the government, and we have young members mixed in with all the gray hair and a couple of bald heads, and yet we are united by a common set of principles. first, despite the many prophets of doom and decline, american

leadership remains today a pillar of international security, justice, and peace. [applause] second, i believe we will only be able to maintain our leadership if we have adequate resources. and third, we are determined that america remains strong and respected. and if you don't believe us, we can always speak a little bit louder. and tonight, with george, nancy, and cokie roberts, and dan, and my very distinguished co-chair and honoree tom ridge and the one and only bill gates, you can bet that we're going to make an awful lot of more noise. [applause] i am truly happy to be honored with secretary governor ridge, because he has done so much. and something that people don't know, we are both of czech background, so we have many things in common.

we all know that there are still some in this city and around our country who think of america as an island. and they believe that we are unaffected by events across the borders or on the far side of the sea. and they refuse accept that america's interests are linked to the security and prosperity of allies and friends. and they don't understand that leadership comes with a price. the truth is that we won't be able to rely on other countries to help fight the extraordinary dangers that most threaten us unless we help the global majority to fight the chronic problems that frighten them each and every day. so we have some educating to do. let me be clear, that our purpose is not simply to defend public spending for its own sake.

some of you may remember senator edmund musky, my first boss in washington. i can tell you from experience that he was a man with a down to earth way of talking, a first-rate intellect, and a world class temple. he was also the -- temper. for want of a better term, he was a tight wad. he didn't think there was anything inherently liberal or progressive about spending money. in fact, he wouldn't give you a dime unless it was justified. but he also understood that there is nothing free about freedom. he came from a family of polish immigrants and he was a lieutenant in the u.s. navy during world war ii, and he knew the value of american leadership, because he had seen it make all the difference in his own life. and i don't know about you're welcome but i can definitely relate to that. and yet, america today is embattled and our troops are fighting a war in afghanistan that cannot be won by military

means alone. we're under assault by terrorists who cannot be tracked down and defeated without the cooperation of other countries, and we worry that the world's most dangerous weapons might fall into the hands of the world's most dangerous people, yet preventing that can only be a multi-national enterprise. we have a struggling economy that can grow only if our exports expand, which means that foreign populations must have the means to buy what we sell. and we're in a battle of ideas with dictators and demagogues who spread lies about what we do and what we intend. we have to push back, but we won't be able to do that if at the same time we're cutting back on embassies cutting back

[applause] we have good reason to be concerned about the federal budget deficit, but as we have learned through history, the best route to fiscal stability is to prevent war and the quickest path to catastrophe is to allow small problems to grow into big ones. there is no easy path to leadership. consider the turbulence that we now see in the middle east. the issues there are as complex as the stakes are high. the united states cannot dictate specific outcomes in countries such as egypt or tunisia, but we are in a far better position than we might have been had we not raised our voice at key moments on behalf of democratic reform and human rights. [applause] and we will be in a far better position in the future if we remain engaged in support of the legitimate aspirations of the

region's people. the truth is that no country has a more compelling interest than ours in an international system that truly works to keep the peace, foster development, build free institutions, and establish and enforce the rule of law. and no country has a greater reason for pride in its tradition of leadership. i didn't always agree with president george w. bush, but he was a champion in the global fight against h.i.v. and aids, and all americans should be proud of that. [applause] bill clinton led the campaign to halt ethnic cleansing and terror, and john kennedy sent forth the finest group of ambassadors america has ever had, sarge shriver and the peace corps.

and many years ago, ronald reagan launched what everyone now describes as a revolution against big government. he also increased the level of u.s. foreign aid, and with democratic partners established the national endowment for democracy. this evening, i have to tell you that even after many years of being exposed to cynics and naysayer, i still believe that the united states is much more than just another country. i want america to be strong and admired, and i want the respect to continue to be earned throughout the coming decade and into the next and into the next. and as supporters of the u.s. global leadership coalition, i know you share that desire. and so tonight, let us make a beautiful noise together as we rededicate ourselves to that goal. thank you very, very much for this great honor. [applause]

>> please welcome robin lineberger. >> wow. thank you, secretary albright, and congratulations for this well-deserved recognition. i'm honored to be a co-chair this evening with dr. gayle from care. we believe strongly in the mission of the u.s. global leadership coalition. and a strong and effective international affairs budget. we know more than any that the future of the u.s. economy rests on our ability to find

new markets and innovative solutions to compete in the international markets. 170,000 of my colleagues at deloitte and our member firms around the world work every day with our clients to help solve their most challenging problems, and we're proud of the work we do across the developing world to build sustainable business and foster democracy and governance. tonight it's a great privilege to play tribute to a man who understands the importance of global engagement. the honorable tom ridge. [applause] secretary ridge has been a soldier, a member of congress, a governor, a cabinet secretary, and a businessman. throughout his career, tom ridge has focused on the greatness of america, and an important role our nation plays in building a better and safer world. as governor of pennsylvania, tom ridge saw firsthand the face of if terrorism on september 11

and the crash of the united flight 93 in shanksville, pennsylvania. as the nation's first secretary of homeland security, secretary ridge made a historic contribution to strengthening our national security. as one of our country's leading national security experts, he understands that it takes more than the strongest military in the world to prevent the spread of terrorism and to protect our nation. he continues to safeguard our nation's security through his work as a c.e.o. of ridge global and a senior advisor to deloitte. he's been a visionary leader, a supporter, and a champion of smart power foreign policy, a passionate advocate for utilizing our tools of diplomacy and the development to keep our world safe. as a trusted advisor to the usglc, tom ridge has been a critical voice around the country and on capitol hill,

making a compelling case for the role of civilian power and building a stable and secure world. there's someone who wanted to add a few words to mine tonight to tom ridge. >> i send our greetings to all those in attendance tonight at the u.s. global leadership coalition dinner. we join you in congratulating tonight's honorees and two fine patriots, tom ridge and madeleine albright. tom ridge has dedicated decades of his life to the service of our country, including as a decorated army soldier, a united states congressman, and governor of pennsylvania. when i established the white house office of homeland security after september 11, i knew immediately that tom ridge was the right man for the assignment. he did an outstanding job. so i appointed him as the first

secretary of homeland security. thanks to his leadership, america is more security and our government is better prepared to protect our people. i appreciate the u.s. global leadership's coalition for your commitment to a better, safer world, and i thank you for recognizing such fine americans tonight. congratulations, tom. laura and i send our best to you and good evening, and may god bless you all. [applause] >> secretary ridge, we salute you for your leadership, your service, and your courage. please join me in recognizing the honorable tom ridge. [applause]

>> i'd like to take a moment to read the inscription on this and thank secretary ridge for his service. the u.s. global leadership coalition salutes secretary of homeland security tom ridge for his vision, his leadership, and unwavering commitment to elevating development and diplomacy and strengthening the u.s. international affairs budget presented to the honorable tom ridge. [applause] >> thank you very much for that overly generous introduction. thank you very much for your very warm welcome.

robin, thank you. helin, cokie, it's a great pleasure to be in your company. distinguished guests. is ambassador green here? there's my friend ambassador green. i want to shout out to another strong supporter of the global coalition and the wishful thinking packers fan. [laughter] while. [laughter] a lot of distinguished guests here this evening. people asked me how i felt about the award. and i said i'm honored, but i must tell you, it is particularly, in a very personal way, an honor for me to be associated with secretary albright. [applause] this is an individual whose commitment to her country, the

experiences that have shaped her helped shape foreign policy. she is a public servant, who's built intellectual and humanitarian bridges to our friends and allies. it's her wit and wisdom that she takes to advance american interests. a madam secretary, it's greater honor because of the evening with you to try to get everybody fired up. raise that decimal level! [applause] since we're telling christmas stories, i am grateful for the kind words that president bush said. after 9/11, everyone wanted to do something for their country, and the president, i was one of the fortunate ones. the president actually gave me a job to help out. i'm grateful for his words. but i remember in the course of

that tenure, there was one christmas season when we decided to cancel some flights. and instead of going through, i hope you don't mind, madam secretary. we were right to the countries directly. time is of the essence. i remember the counterpart on the other side said, you know, this is a matter of sovereignty. a little bit rough around the edges. it's a matter of sovereignty and you can't tell us we can't take off. we said, you know, you're absolutely right. but we can tell you you can't land. caught[laughter] so they canceled the flights. so the secretary and i have worked together for the past couple of years. we worked together doing global engagements impact 2008 effort. her candidate won.

mine came in second. but i think he enjoys keeping president obama on his toes. i truly believe there's mutual respect between president obama and senator mccain. i believe it is a respect that demonstrates that americans, we do not have to agree on every matter of policy, on every agenda, on every talking point, because in america, unity does not require unanimity. [applause] we do not have to agree on all things to uphold the important things. the kind of things in which we in fact do agree, such as teaching the tenets of our founders, the nation, despite our differences, we all cling to the sameness, to the beauty of our country and the opportunity to enjoy the blessings of liberty and freedom.

someone asked me earlier what prompted me to join the u.s. global leadership coalition. very simple. i believe in your mission. i believe in your message. the message that we must enhance the ability of our country, to advance the ideals of freedom and democracy around the globe. that the military is but one option available to influence geopolitical events and to bring about a better and a safer world. failing to recognize the long- term impact of addressing humanitarian and social concerns before political crises occur, before mother nature strikes. the need to embrace our brand. i think as we promote america, i often look at it as a product. we have something real special to sell. but the brand of that product is our value system. and i think we can achieve promotion of that product through the use of the wise arsenal of liberty.

the smart power of diplomacy. foreign assistance and economic development. nearly 40 years ago when i served in vietnam, i didn't spend a lot of time thinking about these things, i must admit. i was a soldier, a young infantry staff sergeant. i went through the wet flatlands, primarily covered in rice pat tees, beyond the waves of the south china sea. i do think back, and i do recall during that time, that every day i saw villagers emerge from small huts, dirt floors, men, women, and children, who headed out to those rice patties at dawn and came back at dusk, not five days a week, seven days a week. i could not help but wonder, what if there were more peace corps volunteers around? what if there were some doctors here to help?

what if somehow the government was connected to a land grant school or agricultural university? how about if they had some modern farming equipment? what all or any of that could have done to help them, not just to survive, but to flourish. the images of war in its many forms has stayed with me, but watching those villagers bring dignity to a threadbare existence amid the very vulnerable landscape of war is an image that all these years later does make me think of america's place in the world, our leadership, and our global engagement. we know the world is becoming more interdependent, more opportunities, and more risks. we know that the security and prosperity of the global community is forever inextricably linked, which

means were more and more vulnerable to pandemics, to terrific, to just about everything we used to think we were immune from or isolated from in the 19th or 20th centuries. in my mind, all the more reason for us to be more engaged in bringing stability to broken regions of the world and in addressing human needs. and in america, we really wouldn't have it any other way, would we? for in this democracy, we take up our charge with enthusiasm. i believe that we know that we are all called to serve as long as we call ourselves free. and we know that there's no place for neutrality in times of moral crisis. when the tsunami in indonesia roared, the earthquake in haiti devastated, we reached out with a hand of compassion, funds and resources. we were the first in. and no matter where disaster strikes, we usually are. we do so by manifesting the tools of smart power to try to help those affected by those

natural disasters to save lives. we do so because of our national and individual, charitable, and philanthropic impulses. no better represented than by the man that joins us tonight, bill gates. [applause] so despite our differences, we will come together in our sameness and protect and nurture the most vulnerable among us in our global family. it's a poignant moment some of you may recall from "charlie wilson's war." i served with charlie. spent absolutely no time in the hot tub. [laughter] after charlie convinces the intelligence committee and the president and others for

hundreds of millions of dollars, the russians vacate, you see the tanks going across the bridge. in the next scene, we see him talking to the same group that had spent hundreds of millions on military aid. and charlie says, now i need a few million dollars to start building roads and schools. and they look at him and say, what are you now, a congressman from kabul? of course, the easiest way to undermine that sentiment publicly and rhetorically and politically is to say, we have problems in america, how can we afford to be sending this much money overseas? it is real money. that is true. but at the end of the day, ladies and gentlemen, we ought to look to our military leaders, some of whom have come to me tonight. we shouldn't use diplomacy and develop mental assistance and economic aid in a default position. we ought to be very progressive in pushing it out, because it has as much a great impact as potential military aid.

[applause] i think as we all know, it's far less expensive than sending our greatest treasure, that's men and women in uniform. [applause] i think the challenge for all of us in this room, particularly during these tough economic times when deficits are real and tough decisions have to be made, we have to convince the men and women up on the hill that weir going to advance our interests around the world. we can't rely simply on a military strategy. if you bring in a clean water system and sanitation system, vaccination, schools, technology. if you reach out to address real human needs, you certainly in parts of the world will make the ideology of extremism far less attractive to those bent on the subversion and perversion

of land and people. that doesn't mean we should expect that democratic institutions are necessarily going to end up looking like ours. pretty good chance they won't. but we need to build friendship and allies in many different forms. but i do believe in everyone's heart around the world if you have an opportunity to live your own heart, choose your own leaders, and be self- determining versus repressed and oppressed, and despite cultural and political differences, you'll end up having a belief similar to ours, a belief that will enable all of this to come together in our sameness. a belief that deserving of all human beings is the freedom to be free. to determine one's own future and one's own fate. we saw that notion play out in the unfolding of the cold war. the unfolding of the soviet union and the emergence of new

eastern european democracies. we saw it play out as the iranian people took their protests and pleas to the world. and we see it playing out as egypt tries to reconcile its history with a stronger present and transition to a very different and unknown future. none of the above is fully resolved yet. but as abraham lincoln once told us, revolutions do not go backwards. and so just as i did in vietnam, i do the same with you in the audience tonight. i can't help but wonder what a difference the tools of empowerment can make, what a difference the arsenal of liberty can make. what a difference we can make, we, who despite our differences, still cherish our sameness. so my hope is that we will continue to uphold the shared mission through the context of u.s. global leadership coalition.

through every effort we have to advance a safer and better world. thank you for this honor, ladies and gentlemen. and thank you for the honor you bring to america through the good and the important work that you do every single day. thank you very much. [applause] >> if we could get both of our honorees, secretary albright, secretary ridge, and our dinner co-chairs up here, we'd like to get one last round of applause. get some nice pictures. and then you can have your dinners. [applause]

>> thank you, cokie. first of all, i want to say what a pleasure it is for the board to welcome you here. but there's one person who needs special recognition, because she is the foundation behind this whole organization, not only now, but for years. and that's liz schrayer. please stand up.

liz can talk anybody out of anything. the most persuasive person i know. and her team is also great as well. so they deserve special recognition. the whole team. [applause] i want to say what a pleasure it is to welcome both secretary albright and secretary ridge, two very deserving honorees. i recall one of them mentioned thomas jefferson, who once said that not every difference of opinion is a difference in principle, and i think those two people take that to the kind of patriotic level. and i also appreciated the fact that both president bush and president clinton, two great patriots, addressed the evening this evening. i think that's really important for us. [applause] so my job is to welcome a few of the dignitaries here before i

introduce bill gates, and i know we have several ambassadors here. i'm just going to recognize you by your country. if you feel that you would like to stand up and be recognized, please do so, as i call on you. the ambassador from afghanistan, mongolia, netherlands, indonesia, senegal, and slovenia. [applause] i'm especially pleased to welcome the members of congress who are here, senator kay hagan from north carolina. senator mike leigh from utah. where are you, mike? you're somewhere here. there you are. [applause] and the youngest person in the audience, senator frank lautenberg of new jersey. [applause]

we were also pleased to have senator bob menendez and representative eleanor holmes norton here earlier. we have a few administration people here. one is my very good friend, who just took his job as deputy secretary of state for management and resources, tom nides. tom, stand up. the state department has been doing an extraordinary job on the issue of evacuation of americans from egypt. i think they deserve a special hand for that. [applause] daniel johannes, you're here somewhere. right there. ok. my friend, the great administrator for the usaid, rag shaw. where are you, raj? the president and c.e.o. of the

overseas private investment corporation, elizabeth littlefield. the director of the u.s. trade and development agency, lee zack. and the director of the peace corps, aaron williams. [applause] i think aaron wins the trip to jeopardy. in any event, this is going to be very short. i want to just say a few words about bill gates. the truth of the matter is that he's probably been introduced so many times that he tires of his own introductions. and i always thought about that scene in the movie "schindler's list." and you remember the character ben kingsley, whose firm did

the work for the germans, the work on the machinery. at the end of the movie, liam neeson starts crying to him. he said, i didn't do enough. and the character -- ben kingsley said, you did plenty. he said remember, when you save one life, you saved the entire world. and in the case of bill gates, he has saved the entire world over and over and over again. [applause] and not just a financial benefactor, which he is, and which the bill and linda gates foundation is, but also a moral leader who has been able to exert great influence on business, corporate, financial, n.g.o., and government leaders all over the world. so without saying any more about him, this is a great man,

a great american who has changed a lot of lives, please welcome bill gates. [applause] >> thank you, secretary goodman. i have to go back and watch that movie again. it's a great honor to join the u.s. global leadership coalition in paying tribute to secretary albright and secretary ridge. secretaries, as someone still adjusting to my second career, i'm inspired by the fact that you're not only still engaged, but you're still innovating and leading. [applause]

it's a great privilege to address this group. for over a decade, you've been driving the discussion about the role of development and american policy. i want to thank you for your contributions to the public debate and for the hard work you'll need to do in the next year. i also want to recognize raj shaw, the administrative usaid. [applause] it's always a great pleasure to work with him at our foundation, and linda and i always relied on him for his great insights and we're excited about the innovation reform he's bringing to a.i.d. the talent and seriousness of the leaders in this room give me confidence that we will rise to the challenges we face. unlike many of you, i don't have a background on smart power. but i have a background in

business. and looking at these issues as a businessman, i believe that investing in the world's poorest people is the smartest way our government spends money. [applause] it saves lives, it improves livelihoods, it promotes stability, and it stimulates economies. the national security arguments i have heard in support of foreign assistance from president obama, president bush, secretary of state clinton, secretary of defense gates, and general petraeus appeal to my common sense. i believe that the world will be a safer place if there is enough food to go around. that it will be a more stable place if children grow up with opportunities instead of frustrations.

further more, i can only assume that if the united states plays a role in helping to create prosperous societies, we will have friends to call on in times of need. secretary of the treasury geithner's arguments in favor of development resonate with what i've seen. he points out that exports to developing countries have grown six times faster than exports to major economies in the last decade. he concludes from this that, "roles for this country in the future is going to be overwhelmingly dependent on the ability to see faster income growth in the fastest growing parts of the world." we already have important states in the success of developing economies. half our exports go to developing markets, and that's over half a trillion dollars every year and growing quite rapidly.

a new book about africa tells the story, calls "emerging africa," tells the story of the 17 countries there that are developing their economies at a very high speed. and i think it will be eye- opening to people who see the continent as a lost cause and haven't really looked at the changes taking place there. as an example, mozambique has grown at over 7% a year since the mid 1990's, partly do to the steady and predictable flow of aid. in the future, the growth in these developing economies will be an engine for our own economy. our success is tied to the progress of those around us. and the investments we make today will help create the jobs

of tomorrow. when my wife and i first started learning about health and development in the late 1990's, the american public didn't know nearly as much about the issues as it does now. i always marvel at how fast awareness of what's happening in poor countries has grown. when i was 40 years old, i had very little understanding of the terrible inequities that devise the world. but today when i speak to young audiences and i hear about what they're seeing on the internet, the way they reach out, what i hear from my own children as they come back from school classes where they've heard about the millennium development goals, i believe the world is becoming a smaller place with more caring for the problems anywhere in the world. when americans begin to appreciate what assistance for the poorest can accomplish, they want to do more. over the past decade, the strong support from both democrats and republicans, our country has steadily increased its commitments.

the united states launched some of the most effective health and development initiatives in history, including the president's emergency plan for aids release, the president's malaria initiative, and the millennium challenge cooperation. behind those are some really fantastic programs. americans are now and have almost always been, the largest donor to projects for the poor. that is something we should be proud of. as a nation, we express our noblest values when we make a priority of helping others. [applause] we set an example for the world to follow. our generosity encourages other donors to give more. however, this economic crisis has forced us to re-evaluate

everything. in a short term, we have an employment challenge, with unemployment over 9%. the crisis is certainly compounded by the growing pressure on our deficit and debt. congress will have to take a hard look at all spending as it decides how to get the economy moving and restore the long- term health of the budget. in this time of tradeoffs, it's fair to ask tough questions about our aid expenditures. the first question on everybody's mind is how effective are development programs for the poorest? some say the return on investment doesn't justify the

expense. others claim a significant portion of aid is lost corruption. it's not surprising that people feel this way. in the past, there were foreign assistance efforts that were not measured by their impact. in past times, we often didn't have a clear metric of what impact we expected. especially during the cold war, aid was often focused on forging alliances rather than helping the poorest. but in the past decade, there has been a substantial change. donors have gotten a clearer, more principal view of the purpose of the assistance. the new programs are all focused on investments that we know have incredible impacts on people's health and well-being. of course there are still challenges to run these programs in all these countries. last week, news coverage of a global fund report that had been issued months earlier about misused money in a few countries brought the issue of accountability back to the forefront. when global fund money is stolen, it costs lives.

but we should not respond to the finding that a small portion of global fund money has been misspent by calling for cuts, because that will also cost lives. the point of oversight is to save more lives, not simply to find fault. in fact, the global fund does a very strong job making sure that almost all its money is used to save lives. it hires independent investigators, it makes the results of the investigation public, and it quickly corrects the mistakes uncovered by the investigations. that's how oversight is supposed to work. if you show me a program that doesn't report any diverted funds, i'll show you a program that doesn't have a mechanism in place to attract how its funds are being used.

[applause] we need to continuously monitor, evaluate, and improve our aid. we need to be relentless, not just about rooting out fraud, but also about measuring results. understanding what works and what doesn't. and squeezing more out of every dollar. i believe in the life-saving goals the global fund has set, which is why our foundation has provided it with over $1 billion in support. the global fund has saved more than six million lives, and i am confident that it will build on that success if given the chance. the danger, of course, is that these issues will obscure the very significant accomplishments of international affairs programs. let me be clear. any claim that foreign assistance to the poorest countries is just wasted money simply doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

[applause] because of u.s. leadership and foreign assistance, the world eradicated smallpox 30 years ago. because of our foreign assistance, we're on the threshold of eradicating polio. [applause] the number of cases is down from 350,000 at the start of the eradication campaign in 1988, to less than 2,000 last year. [applause] because of foreign assistance, five million people with aids are receiving life-saving treatment. [applause] because of foreign assistance, hundreds of millions of children are sleeping under nets that protect them from malaria. we must have an honest debate about the costs of cutting it. if we take people off aids

treatment, they will die. if we fail to replace the nets when they wear out, children will get sick and die. if we pull back from the polio eradication, we will lose the only chance we have ever had to eliminate this from the earth. foreign assistance is largely responsible for the greatest accomplishment of the last 50 years, which is the incredible reduction in childhood deaths. in 1960, over 20 million children died before they turned five years old. last year, the figure was 8.1 million. that is a 60% decline. there are several reasons for this progress. the most important one is the funding of vaccines.

vaccines are the most effective health to available. just a few doses protect a child from a deadly diseases for their entire lifetime. in the case of measles, two 18- cent doses end the threat of one of the world most contagious diseases. american assistance buys vaccines every day. the number of lives saved, as impressive as it is, does not capture the full benefit of improved health. the statistics don't tell the story of morbidity, the fancy word for saying that disease does not just kill children, it also disables them. take diarrhea. it kills about 1.5 million children every year. it also affects hundreds of millions more. frequent bouts of diarrhea mean that a high percentage of these

children never get the nutrition that allows for full mental development. by the time the children who survive diarrhea are well enough to go to school, a high percentage are unable to learn. the disease does not take their life, but it does steal their future. the huge disease burden of poor countries means a substantial portion of their human potential is lost by the time their children are old enough to talk. a recent study published in "the economist" shows this incredible correlation between substandard iq and disease burden. although iq is not a perfect measure, the trend is stunning. the less disease in a country, the higher the average iq. by fighting diseases and helping countries make the most of their human potential, you have a substantial impact on their economic roles.

another benefit of vaccines is that saving children's lives actually promotes sustainable population growth. while at first you might think that saving children's lives will cause over population, in fact, the opposite is true. the reason we discovered this parents tend to make choices about how many children to have based on needing to have a high probability that several will survive into adulthood. when the child mortality rate goes down and parents know their kids are likely to grow into adulthood, they choose to have smaller families. this is one of the most dramatic effect we have seen in the last several decades. this meant the peak population will be far less than was predicted in the 1970's. by this mechanism of improved

health leading to reduce population growth, this means you make it possible for countries to meet their basic needs, to have enough food for everyone, to be able to educate everyone, and to have the stability that comes with those achievements. the investments made in agriculture have also paid huge dividends. years ago, more than half the people in the developing world did not get enough calories to be healthy. now, thanks to the green revolution that helped farmers plant better seeds and manage their land more effectively, that percentage is under 20%. it is not just that more children are surviving to age 5. they are also growing up to be healthier adults.

most poor people in the world feed their families and earn their income by forming small plots of land. when they increase their productivity, they do more than fend off starvation. they also build wealth. ghana has seen the average income go up by 40%. these advances go together. agricultural assistance comes with an exit strategy built in. as farmers improve productivity, access to markets, and boost their income, they become self- sufficient. incidently, the global revolution in food production of the past several decades has made food cheaper for consumers all over the world, including in the united states. when you put these factors together, you have many of the key factors for successful the

government. a poor country with a sustainable, help the population, and a thriving agricultural sector, won't remain poor for long. assistance that intervenes at strategic points triggers the cycle. simple things like vaccines lay the foundation for more complicated things, like education, environmental sustainability, and good government. brazil, india, indonesia, and poland are compelling case studies of how aids can help lead to prosperity. last year, i joined the south korean foreign minister and others to launch the global agriculture and food security program. the minister describes his memory of being hungry as a child and eating food given to him and his family by the american people. i can make the case my whole life about how aid can help move countries out of defense -- dependency.

it will never have the impact of his personal testimony. south korea used to receive aid. now it gives a. it has given more than it ever received. you can see the minister's enjoyment of being able to return these benefits to the poor countries. when people make the argument that development assistance is not effective spending, i don't want to say i disagree. i think aid is uniquely effective among all the different kinds of spending our government does. [applause] even given the effectiveness, there is a question we are obliged to ask. do we have the money to spend on it now? i believe we do. i look to the inspiring example

of the united kingdom, which under david cameron's leadership, past an austerity budget while increasing foreign assistance to meet their commitment to give 0.7% of gdp in aid. [applause] as congress looks to retrench, it is imperative that we consider the costs and benefits of each line item in the budget. the 1% we spend on aid for the poorest not only saves millions of lives, it has an enormous impact on developing economies, which means it has an impact on our economy. my work at microsoft -- in my work at microsoft, i staked a lot on innovation. people often assume a world without innovation. they extrapolate in a straight line from the current reality.

they don't see that new insight they don't see the most exciting areas for growth. i am an optimist. when i started microsoft, i was motivated by the conviction that computers could change everything. i could not predict the exact future, but i could see software could transform our lives for the better. more than 30 years later, i am proud to say it has. in some ways that i expected, and in some that went beyond my imagination. when i look forward to the future of our economy, i believe the reason to be optimistic is that we have the ability to innovate and the ability to one leash the creative power of millions of people and injured thousands of new markets. i cannot predict the exact future, but i can predict a world with 200 healthy and thriving countries offers much

greater opportunity than the world we have now. [applause] our country has a phenomenal strategic opportunity right now. by continuing to invest in the world's poorest people, for their sake, and for ours, thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> tonight, a look at the 100th anniversary of the birthday of reagan. first, senate comments on the

floor and a dinner in his honor in santa barbara. >> sunday on washington journal, nathan brown discusses egypt and the ramifications for the entire region. then former communications director doug heye talk about the reelection of obama. and then historian richard norton smith marks the 100th birthday of ronald reagan and his legacy. plus your emails and phone calls. it is live at 7:00 am eastern. >> the environment of politics came apart. it became destroyed and violent. documentary on hubert

humphrey. >> everybody just remember him somebody licking lyndon johnson's boots with no mind of his own. people don't understand the pressures he was under. >> next, serveraral senators commemorated the 100th anniversary of the birthday of ronald reagan. this is about 25 minutes. much, madam president. as a native californian, i come to the floor now to honor the 100th birthday of president ronald reagan. former fst lady nancy reagan

ask that i serve on the ronald reagan centennial commission and i was very honored to accept. today i join senator jim webb, also a member, and orrin hatch to continue president reagan's spirit of bipartisanship, and we have invited senators on both sides of the aisle to join us heren the floor. from seemy valley in california to our nation's capital, americans this month are honoring president ronald reagan. these centennial events are intended to reach all americans, including many born after president reagan left office. those to remember ronald reagan as governor or as president know how he impacted history. but there are some who may not realize that the societye live in today is, in part, due to the policies of president reagan. young adults today grow up

without the fear of nuclear war in the back of their mind, and students of tomorrow will work to achieve president reagan's dream of a world without nuclear weapons. it can be said that eve great president can be remembered in just one sentence. some sentences, "he freed the slaves." oh, "he made the louisiana purchase." yet 22 years after he left office and seven years after his death, the name "ronald wilson reagan" can still provoke a complex debate. there is no one phrase that can descri his legacy. some come to mind: "the great communicator" or "mr. gorbachev, tear down that wall." that's the one that does it for me. there's much debate over president reagan because we all think of him differently. and over time history sweetens our memories. but no matter what matter

disagreements you may have had with him, you have to admire his style of politics. he was a conservative republican, but he understood that in order to get anything done, he had to work across the aisle, which he did. in his 1983 state of the union address, president reagan said -- and i quote -- "let us, in these next two years, men and women of both parties, every political shade, concentrate on the long-range bipartisan responsibilities of government, not the short-range or short-term temptations of partisan politics." end quote. also ronal reagan had commonsense convictions that helped his achievements. he was a true gentle person, a gentleman in american politics. you would not have seen him giving a speech like some do today calling his opponents

names or giving out generalized insults. dignity and wit were his weapons of choice. also, president reagan served during times of divided government, when one partyad the white house and the other controlled at least one chamber of congress, giving each side some governing responsibility to find solutions. it was a time when a financial and fiscal crisis brought the two parties together to compromise on tough choices about taxes and spending. in 1983, president reagan and speaker tip o'neill came together to compromise on cial security based on proposals from a commission led by alan greenspan. and president reagan is credited with creating the conditions that led to the end of the cold war, providing the economy -- reviving the economy and returning a sense of optimism to

our country. one of the things i most admired was his work to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world and his dream of a world one day free of these awful weapons. president reagan expressed this vision during his second inaugural address on january 21, 1985. he declared -- quote -- " seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth." end quote. it was a remarkable statement from a president who had deployed tactical nuclear miiles in europe to counterthe soviet union's fearsome ss-20 missile fleet. but president reagan understood the grave threat that nuclear weapons pose to humanity, and he boldly set hself to achieve their eventual elimination.

my good friend, george shultz, secretary of state under president reagan, remembers that many at that time thought the president's inial negotiations to reduc strategic arms were not serious, even quite ridiculous. a classified report released recently showed that president reagan asked the joint chiefs of staff about the costf an all-out soviet attack and plans for retaliation. he asked secretary shultz -- and i quote -- "what's so good about keeping the peace aer wiping each other out?" end quote. mr. shultz believes if he were around today, president reagan would have been in favor of the new start treaty. at the famous reykjavik summit withoviet president mikhail gorbachev in october 1980, president reagan went far beyon gorbachev's proposal to slash

strategic arms by 50%. he truly believed we should go to zero. the reykjavik talks may not have worked out, but the idea thawe should create a world free of nuclear weapons still endures to this day. secretary shultz thinks president reagan would want to be remembered for his complete faith in freedom and his conviction that you have to be strong to defend that freedom. and that is certainly true. ronald reagan came into office with character and charisma, traits that take other elected officials years to develop. it was that charisma which impressed california's republicans and led to his nomination as governor of my great state. ronald reagan was elected governor of cifornia in 1966 by nearly a million-vote margin.

he was elected to a second term in 1970. he did not seem to mind that people underappreciated him at the time. and decades later, as volumes of his handwritten essays were released to the public, americans saw just what a thoughtful and visionary man he was. if we remember ronald reagan with one sentence, let us remember him as one who took big ideas and a crafting of words and a conviction of freedom to change the entire world. on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great communicator, i hope we can embody his spirit of bipartisanship to keep our country strong and united today. thank you, mam chair. i yield the floor. mrs. hutchison: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mrs. hutchison: madam president, i rise to speak also on the 100th anniversary

of the birth of ronald reagan. i am so pleased to follow my colleague from california who has been under the weather for a little while, and we're very glad that she's back. madam president, i think all of us will have an opportunity to talk about one of the great presidents of the last century and to mark the 30 years since ronald reagan's inauguration. when ron weighing was elected president in 1980, ameri faced an anemic economy, high unemployment and a sense of malaise emanated from washington. president reagan never doubted america's potential was unlimited. during his second inaugural address, he said america can outproduce, outcompete and outsell anybody anywhere in the world. the reagan revolution was fueled by the understanding that given

the opportunity, americans would dream, create, and build. he also knew that the road to greatness was through an individual's effort, not through expanded government. so president reagan said about reinvigorating the stagnant economy. heut government spending. he reduced government regulation. he ended the practice of wage and price controls. he passed tax cuts for all americans. he famously noted that government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives. the american economy responded with sustained growth, ao new era o economic prosperity had been ushered in. reagan's vision of the greater good also extended beyond our shores. he was a fierce advocate for freedom. with our cold war adversary, the soviet union, imposing the type grip of communism on much of the

world, president reagan launched a resurgence of american military might through the strategic defense initiative. as he said, "of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the united states was too strong. it was his firm resolve to negotiate from a position of strength that led to successful arms talks with the soviets and ultimately to the downfall of the soviet empire. during his first inaugural address, he clearly stated where america stood. as for the enemies of freedom, he said, those who are potential adversaries they will be reminded that these is the highest aspiration of the american people. we will negotiate for it, sacrifice for it, we will not surrender for it now or ever. president reagan understood that all people, regardless of where they lived, long for liberty and

freedom. he believed that america was a beacon of hope to all the oppressed people of the world, a shining city on the hill as he deribed it. as jeffrey bel wrote in "the weekly standard," ronald reagan believed that people all over the world craved self government just asuch as americans did. even today he is still being proven right." he said, "concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty. these words still echo in today's tumultuous times. we witnessed the poignant photographs of women in iraq voting and joyously holding up their purple-stained thumbs. we have seen marches in egypt of people who yearn to be able to vote for the first time in a real election in 30 years. he also understood the importance of information in

promoting freedom calling it the oxygen of the age. it seeps through the walls, he said. it's topped by barbed wire. it wafts across the electrified border. his words are as true today as when he utted them. freedom and individual liberty are america's greatest assets. they are the core of our national identity. they are the foundation of our economic prosperity. and these precious assess have been protected by the patriots from every generation from the beginning of america's history to today. ronald reagan understood and appreciated the duty we all have to preserve these american ideals. as he said, democracy is worth dying for because it is the most deeply honorable form of government devised by man. when president reaga died in

2004, there was a spontaneous worldwide outpouring of grief and tributes that caught some seasoned political pundits by surprise. throughout his political career, ronald reagan was underestimated by establishment political intellectuals of the day. he was dismissed sometimes by the media. but when he spoke, the american people listened, they understood, and they agreed with this down-to-earth but very ofound man. and so did the world. we all remember him fondly and with great respect and are thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the senate will proceed to morning business until 3:00 p.m. with senators permitted to speak up to ten minutes each for the purpose of giving remarks relative to the upcoming centennial of the birth of president ronald reagan.

the senator from arizona. mr. mccain: madam president, there are many of us who will come to the floor this afternoon to pay tribute to one of the great presidents in american history and many of us will recollect times and experiences and contacts we had with president reagan and the way he inspired us personally as well as a nation. when i was a prisoner of war in north vietnam, the vietnamese went to great lengths to restrict the news from home to the statements and activities of prominent opponents of the war in vietnam. they wanted us to believe that america had forgotten us. they never mentioned ronald reagan to us or played his speeches over the camp loud

speakers. no matter. we knew about him. new additions to our ranks told us how the governor and mrs. reagan were committed to our liberation and our cause. when we came home, all of us were eager to meet the reagans, to thank them for their concern. but more than gratitude drew us to them. we were drawn to them because they were among the few prominent americans who didn't subscribe to the then-fashionable notion that america had entered her inevitable decline. we prisoners of war came home to a country that had lost a war and the best sense of itself, a county beset by social and economic problems. assassinations, riots, scandals, contempt for political, religious and educational institutions gave the appearance

that we had become a dysfunctional society. patriotism was sneered at. the military scorned. and the world anticipated the collapse of our global influen influence. the great, robust, confident republic that had given its name to the last century seemed exhausted. ronald reagan believed differently. he possessed an unshakeable faith in america's greatness, past and future, that proved more durable than the prevailing political sentiments of the time. and his confidence was a tonic to men who had come home eager to put the war behind us and for the country to do likewise. our country has a long and honorable history. a lost war or any other calamity should not destroy our confidence or weaken our purpo

purpose. we were a good nation before vietnam and we are a good country after vietnam. in all of history, you can't find a better one. of that ronald reagan was supremely confident and he became president to prove it. his was a faith that shouted at tyrants to "tear down this wal wall." such faith, such patriotism requires a great deal of love to profess, and i will always revere him for it. when walls were all i had for a world, i learned about a man whose love of freedom gave me hope in a desolate place. his faith honored us as it honored all americans, as it has honored all freedom-loving people. let us honor his memory especially today by holding his

faith as our own and let us, too, tear down walls to freedom. that is what americans do when they believe in themselves. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. sessions: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. sessions: and would note that i was honored to be able to hear senator mccain's comments on ronald reagan. this sunday is, indeed, the 100th anniversary of his birth. it was an opportunity for the whole -- it's an opportunity for the whole nation to honor the memory of a man who honored us with his leadership. the 1980's were a -- in the 1980's, we were a weakened country. inflation and unemployment were

in double digits, the hostage crisis in iran dragged on with no end in sight, our standing abroad was waning and so, too, was our military strength. challenges at home were answered with one failed washington program after another. we had lost confidence in our future and, really, the principle -- and in the principles that made us exceptional. ronald reagan changed that. part of that change began with 12 simple but crucial words: government is not the solution to our problems. government is the problem. and it is a big part of our problem. he stirred the passions of our country, revitalizing not only our economy but our identity and confidence as free people. what some have called the reagan revolution he called the great

rediscovery. he instilled us with a new confidence in our future and in america's role as the last, best hope of mankind. his achievements are well-known but they bear repeating. working with paul coale -- paul volcker, chairman of the federal reserve, he entaind inflation, which was depriving americans of their life savings. it was a tough course, a tough road, but he saw it through, he stayed on the course and we were stronger as a result and we needed to get on a tough -- we need to get on a tough road and stay the course today. he lowered taxes dramatically, including a reduction in the top rate from nearly 80%, and he reined in a runaway bureaucracy that had trapped innovation and productivity in a labyrinth of regulation and red tape. his faith in the free market was not misplaced.

it rewarded us. he created 20 million new jobs, grew our gross national product by 26% and began the longest peacetime boom in our history. conditions improved for americans in every walk of life. the net worth of families earning between $20,000 and $50,000 rose by 27%. reagan's stunning success debunked every myth of those who believed a government -- a bigger government is more compassionate and can do more for more people. the growth and potential productivity of the private sector is what has made america the most prosperous nation. and this success at home was matched by his success abroad. he defended our principles and our way of life with clarity, confidence, and vigor. his policies brought down the

soviet empire. "mr. gorbachev, tear down this wall." still resonates in our minds. and it liberated untold millio millions. now today, more than 20 years after reagan left office, we find ourselves facing many of the same challenges: a sagging economy, a growing government, and a diminished standing in the world. mr. sessions: we would be vie we to remember the lessons of that era -- peace through strength,, prosperity through freedom. he understood that our future greatness lies in the same place it always has, through our pioneering, restless, enterprising spirit that is filled with ambition and excitement and a deep sense of honor and decency that defines who we are as a people and who we will be tonal. in -- who we will be tomorrow. in president reagan's farewell

address, he urged a word of caution. if we forget what committee did, we -- what we did, we won't know who we are. i am warning of an eradication of that, of the american nearm y that would result ultimately in an erosion of the american spirit, he said. so we face a daunting and defining challenges of our time, and as we do so, i hope we'll look back to the leadership he provided. mr. president, just on a personal note, i was tremendously honored to have been appointed united states attorney in the southern district of alabama by president reagan in 1981. it was an office that i had served as an assistant in a number of years before. and to be able to come back and to lead that office was such a personal thrill. and, you know, the president didn't give me any directions exactly what we were to do but i

absolutely knew -- and i've often said it's a great example of true leadership -- i knew exactly what he wanted me to do. and i gathered the staff, many of whom i'd worked for from years before, and used these words. i said, president reagan sent me here to prosecute criminals and protect the united states treasury. and i believe that's what he d did. i believe that was implicit in his campaign, his consistent leadership, that he believed in law and order and efficiency and he wanted us to fight corruption and to try to help produce a more efficient government. i remember in those days that we went to a united states attorneys conference that i attended with my good friend, recently the deputy attorney general of the united states, larry thompson, and we would share rooms on the trips to save money because we knew and

believed president reagan wanted us to save money and that we were -- our spending was out of control and we had a serious financial problem. our budgets were frozen but we worked harder and we produced more. that can be done today. this wining -- whining that we can't reduce spending, and many times they define reducing spending is a reduction of the projected rate of growth. it's not even a reduction -- a reduction of current level of spending. these kind of things happened throughout the government, increased productivity of our government. it reduced the take of the federal government from the private economy. the private economy grew and the governmental sector became more efficient and more productive. that's what we need to return to. it was such a fabulous honor to have the opportunity to serve in

that position, and i hope and -- that i was faithful to the values that the president who appointed me had. i got to tell you, i think i knew what they were and i know i gave my best effort to be worthy of the trust he placed in me. and i think that was true of many, many more people throughout the federal government. i would note the absence of a >> our coverage commemorating the 100th birthday of rod wright continues -- and of ronald reagan continues with vice- president dick cheney. following his speech, he set down for a speech on president reagan's values and ideas. he also answers questions on president obama's counter- terrorism policy. this is posted by the young americans foundation. this is just under one hour.

[applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> well, good evening. this is an historic occasion that has given all of us an opportunity to think back and reflect on president reagan and what he meant to us into the country. what i have here are a few remarks. they are short, but i wanted to say something appropriate at the outset. it is my understanding that we will do an interview format.

you will ask questions and i will give sparkling answers. [laughter] except for the questions i don't want to answer. but it is always nice to get at heart here -- it is always nice to get out here to santa barbara. i was quail hunting with jim baker and an ice storm yesterday on the rio grande, if he can believe that. i am busily working on my memoirs. i have a deadline creeping up on me. i have not seen a lot of daylight. i cannot think of a better place to come for inspiration than reagan country. people keep telling me they look forward to reading a book. which only reminds me i need to finish writing it. it is going well, and with luck

it will be in the bookstores this fall. right now, i am deep into my years as vice president and i am not having writer's block. there's plenty to talk about. some of the early highlights involve my dealings with brunell reg and rigid of ronald reagan. being out this way makes me appreciate all the more what a privilege it was snowing -- knowing and even though my politics were colored of the politics that day. i was asked to sign on as president ford's chief of staff and one of our responsibilities in 1976 was the republican nomination. it was a great fight. it was a special event in the history of the party. outside of a movie screen, my first glimpse of ronald reagan

was on a 1974 trip to los angeles with president ford. i was in the room when they met, dressed in tuxedos before going down to the century plaza, just before the went downstairs to attend a republican fund-raiser. i believe they were sizing each other up. the prelude to the battle for the 1976 boat national election -- 1976 national lection. i remember being somewhat distracted, but i sought enough to know that we in the white house would have plenty to worry about if he decided to get into the race. safe to guess that not many of you were around back then, and it was a very big deal. that fight for delegates never stopped until the third day of our 4 day national convention.

in the first bid, i was on the other side. i worked for jerry ford and i had a great respect for him and watched him pull the country together in the aftermath of watergate. taking the nomination from a sitting president is a tough proposition, and in the and not even ronald reagan could pull that off. after the narrow victory, i must say i liked the idea of putting governor reagan on the ticket. it although it is probably just as well that it did not happen. the next four years, everything came together for the reagan presidency, and it took carter's presidency to set the stage for governor reagan's election in 1980. by 1980, all of us were reagan- ites. [applause] at that point, i've is a

congressman from wyoming. wyoming only has one congressman, a small delegation, but we like it that way. i ended up serving in the house republican leadership all eight years that the president was in the white house, and those were great days. people like frank working for him, and many other close friends when we had great folks on capitol hill. these days, the distance of more than a generation, you hear even the liberal commentators reminiscing about the reagan years in a way that does not always ring true to me. they speak of it as a gentler time in politics, when supposedly debates were more cordial and opponents on capitol hill were unfailingly civil and respectful of the president. i hope i am not disillusioning

anyone, i don't quite remember it that way. [laughter] in some cases, there was cordiality that allow for bigger things to happen. but the president and speaker o'neill got together and saved social security from collapse. but among the opposition in congress, president reagan had to deal with some characters. i think of late in the second term, when your major policy differences over iran-contra. i watched all of that as the ranking member on the select committee sworn to investigate iran-contra, and i have barely seen politics get any rougher than that time. it is true we attach a certain good feeling of memories of the 1980's, but that had little to do with the spirit of the president's opponents.

americans remember the time that women the because there was a gentleman in the white house. for all of his congeniality, ronald reagan was tough in political battles, and he did not resent the exertion of debating in fighting for what he believed in. he expected it. eight years as governor of this state and time as a union leader in hollywood had toughened him to make him the advocate that he was. he understood all that was at stake in the debate over taxes, the size and if power of the federal government and over the strength of america's military. regan was a man short of himself and his abilities, but within that he had confidence in the people themselves at a time when big issues were riding on their good sense and their character. he said his first inauguration, i did not believe any state that will fall on us the matter what we do. i believe in fate that will fall on us if we do nothing.

the worst fate that could have come to america was to suffer a lack of resolve in the decisive years of the cold war. if there is any instance in history when the president -- when the presence of one man a difference for the good, it would surely be ronald reagan standing down an expansionist empire and vowing it would not gain another inch of ground. margaret thatcher called him a providential man, and i have found a lot of people who agree when i got to the pentagon as secretary of defense. more than anything else, it was the regulatory build up that a short our victory in the cold war. he left that and much else to his successor. when iraq invaded kuwait in 1990, president bush and i had all we needed to throw back the army of saddam hussein. we deployed half a million troops in the desert. but the air campaign, using the

assets that ronald reagan gave us, was so decisive that run operations took only 100 hours. when it was over, there was one person i want to talk to. but picked up the telephone and placed a call to belair and said, thank you, mr. president. [applause] when all of us think back to ronald reagan and try to sum up all that he was and all that he accomplished, thank you is still a pretty good place to start. we associate idealism with youth, but the oldest man ever elected president was also the most idealistic, and he brought out that quality in the american people. he inspired the kind of affection that even great men cannot claim by right, but goes only to the truly good. kindness, simplicity, and

decency marked his entire life. long before he first it journeyed here to california and lot after he returned here from washington. i remember his final years when he also had courage in the gallant way that he does. there is much more that could be said. we will turn to that in a moment. a short of it is that the great respect and admiration that the generation feels for our 40th president and that shows it to the work of the right and center is well-placed. 100 years after his birth, president reagan stands tall and memory. but as always be grateful that such a man can along -- came along when this nation and all the world needed him the most. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you very much for those remarks. let me explore some of these assets. recent polls show that many americans think of oregon was the most successful president in the post world war ii era, and there are survey showing him what ranking just behind washington and lincoln in terms of all 43 american presidents. what is it about reagan that makes him even more popular today than when he left office and the special and during qualities that he seems to have for america?

>> i can see right now that you are going to get in trouble with all the precedents i work for. [laughter] >> when you go to their centers, even talk nicely of them. >> you mentioned and your opening remarks that he dealt with big issues, dealt with tough problems. it when you think about the end of the cold war and how it ended, i have been absolutely convinced to this day that in effect what happened was the soviets decided they could not keep up with the united states once ronald reagan laid the markers down. made the commitment, and the soviets were not able to contemplate the situation in which they had the resources to keep up with us, basically. in the end, they folded.

and it was peaceful, for the most part. president reagan developed a good relationship with corker jeff -- with corporate chest -- gorbachev, the collapse of the old soviet evening, democracy's all across eastern europe. it was a world shaking set of events that he helped precipitate. and now we have had enough time after 20 years so that we're able to have more perspective. these are lasting achievements. these are not momentary battles. i was bought margaret thatcher had it about right, describing him as a providential man.

>> that is the way history turned out, that the soviets could not keep up with us and he was able to establish a relationship with gorbachev, but i remember at the time my job was to keep in touch with conservatives and there was a lot of grumbling from conservatives that reagan was being snookered by gorbachev. it took a providential man to see the possibilities of how the cold war could end. at from your vantage point in congress, you were always a strong advocate of national defense, did you have any concerns like that, that maybe he was being snookered by the younger gorbachev. >> i am tempted to say i am on to save that for my book. [laughter] let me say that i was one of the most conservative members of congress, based on my voting

record when i was there. at one of the first things i did was a television interview, where i predicted the demise of gorbachev, said he is never going to last. that caused some trouble in the state department, and the bit of heartburn, and the white house. so why was a skeptic. i thought for a long time it was important for us to stay focused on the traditional relationship, as you will, that gorbachev in the and basically did the right thing in the sense he could have called out the troops, he could have smothered in eastern europe, and he did not. i think he deserves a lot of credit for that, but in part

looking back on it now, that was made possible because i believe he established a relationship of trust with ronald reagan. so i think as much of a skeptic as i was, i would have to say, i think, i think president reagan got it right. about how about the strategic defense initiative, something that was not really talked about much prior to his famous speech in 1983, when he just what did into the discussion? how much impacted that have on the eventual peaceful end of the cold war? >> i think it had a big impact. i think it's said to the soviets that the united states was going to use its technology and our lead in a lot of areas to be able to build defenses against incoming missiles. they were worried that we were going to build systems so big that they could defeat their

deterrent. that was their major concern. the fact was the estimates on the soviet economy were inflated. in fact what happened, as i recall, i had an economist working for me who got it right. it was in effect the official estimates were based upon soviet statistics of what their economy was doing, economic and thoseces, gnp, were inflated numbers. so when the were building the defense is trying to keep up with the united states, they were not just spending 10%, 15% of their gross national product on defense, the were spending up to 30%, which was much smaller than they said, but it cannot keep up. that was crucial, from the standpoint there were sent to

the soviets, we can do it. but in the bush administration, which continued to push hard on defense and we advocated the treaty to get the restrictions lifted that interfered with a lot of what we're trying to do in terms of testing missile defense. we don't have any plan of building a massive shield to be up to intercept all of the soviet missiles, but in an era where north korea now has missiles and weapons, iran is trying, they do have missiles, trying to get weapons, we are in a position where we badly need to be able to defend ourselves against rogue regimes that may have just a handful of missiles that could launch and a crisis, and we have been able to make significant process and test our system a couple times during the bush administration, but we need to do more of that.

but you can trace that back to the commitment that president reagan made when he said we're going to go sdi. >> during your time in congress, the republicans were in the minority and yet president reagan was able to get through many important bills -- the tax bill, budget bills, aid to the contras, etc. what techniques did he used to win consistently 40, 50 democrats and keep all of the republicans together to put those majorities ford? >> -- and put those majorities forward? >> there is a story of love to tell. it was a tax bill that came up. it was going through the house 1st because that is where tax bills originate, and democrats controlled the house and they wrote a terrible bill. it was a bill that a lot of us on our side did not want to vote

for. trent lott was part of the cabal, myself, and a couple other people. we did not want to vote against the president directly, so we arranged a rule in which the bill would be defeated. it created consternation at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, and we got word the president would like to, and reason with his republican friends, the congress. on the appointed day, he came up, but the first copy had to make that morning a north carolina, he had to provide it over memorial service for some of our servicemen. when he walked into one of those large hearing rooms full of all of the house republicans, he walked in and he began talking about patriotism and sacrifice and what it means to be in

american. -- to be an american. it was so effective there was not a dry eye in that crowd. then he stopped. he said, gentlemen, now about that tax bill. people were jumping up all over, i am with you mr. president, and he switched 70 votes in that session. he never said a word about the tax bill other than, now, gentlemen, about that tax bill. he nailed it. [applause] >> it is always easy with the hindsight of history, because in terms of the first tax bill, the 25% across-the-board cut over three years, that was largely controversial at the time because from a static analysis,

that would seem to increase the deficit. from your vantage point as one of the most conservative members of congress, how did you approach analyzing that bill? did you have any concerns, or had to become a supply-side advocate at that point? >> i was a supply side at advocate. i had spent too many hours with jack kemp. i was a great believer in the tax policy. i thought, and still do today, that it was vital for us to remember the private-sector creates wealth and jobs and opportunity in the united states. it is the strength of our private economy. it is not projects on the highways. i thought it was a very important piece of legislation, and the president, partly what he did, one of the secrets to

his success was the democratic caucus looked different, and there were a certain amount of boy weevil democrats. i'm thinking of phil gramm in texas. he had been what elected as a democrat to congress, senior as i was, 1978, and came to town, but he believed in a lot of the same fund that the principles that president reagan believed then. he signed on and joined us, and we had a number of conservative democrats who worked with us and help us pass that legislation. for the first couple years, that first term, we actually had a situation where even though the republicans were in the minority in the house, with our conservative democratic friends on the other side of the aisle, we put together a majority on economic issues, budgets, tax policy, so forth, and it was

enormously successful it was also a big tribute to ronald reagan, and the democrats as i recall overreacted and penalize some of the guys on the other side. i was thought it was a it. principle to move on phil gramm's part. he resigned as a member of congress, announced he would be republican, went back home, and ran in a special election at. he switched parties, but he was honest about it. at he did not continue to camouflage himself as a democrat. i always thought that was a principled move, but it was that kind of thing that helped a lot. nowadays, the democratic party has drifted further left. nancy pelosi was the speaker until last november, and the san francisco democrats run the

house, i have to be careful what i say, but the fact is a lot of the seats are now owned by republicans, and that is where we build our majority from, because a lot of those members either converted or were replaced by republicans. there are not many but weevil democrats left. >> we have some questions on contemporary topics this evening. we will ask a few of them for you. we have a couple questions on egypt. bob and pack. both have a question about egypt and the current uprising -- bob and patrick both have questions about egypt and the current uprising. in light of the bush doctrine of trying to spread democracy around the world, how much of that influence the you attribute to what is going on in egypt right now, and how was the

administration doing in the very delicate balance of trying to manage the transition from authoritarianism hopefully to democracy in that country? >> that is an interesting question. the way i think about it, i think it is important for us all to remember that this issue is going to be resolved by the egyptians. a lot of people with opinions, outside, other governments, commentators on cable news shows, but the bottom line, in the end, whatever comes next for egypt will be determined by the people of egypt, and we need to remember that. i also think it is important for us to remember that if you look purely in terms of u.s. interests, we have, clearly, the

lead in and most administrations have endorsed democracy and freedom. we think it is the best system devised by man. our hearts are always glad and when somebody else operates in a similar fashion. but there are also other issues that are important. at the outset, i have known hosni mubarak many years. i for started to work with him the first weekend of the gulf crisis in 1990, and president bush sent me to saudi arabia to arrange for the deployment of u.s. forces so we could defend saudi arabia in the persian gulf and liberate kuwait. my second stop was in alexandria, egypt, to meet with president mubarak. there was consternation in the region, and many of the arab

region signed on with united nations, congress supported it, the egyptians, syrians, all of these folks sent forces as part of the coalition. but president mubarak was right at the outset sign that out -- signed up so that we get our aircraft into the region for access to the suez canal, the naval vessels and so forth. he ended up sending two divisions of the egyptian army to fight alongside americans to liberate kuwait. he has been a good man, good friend and ally of the united states, and we need to remember that. that is also a part when you get into the circumstances -- is also important when we get into the circumstances that you have an open channel of communications that is private to whoever it is you are dealing with out there. it is very hard for some foreign

leader to act on u.s. advice in a visible way. you tell the president of the united states that you have to do "x" and if i do that my people think i am not my own man and i'm doing the bidding of the americans. there is a reason a lot of diplomacy is conducted in secret. there is good reason for confidentiality in communications, and i think president mubarak needs to be treated as he deserves over the years because he has a good friend -- he has been a good friend of the united states and a lot of other folks that we do business with, work with, and have dealt with. you are looking for balance, but i do hope there is a channel of

communication. >> do you think he can survive? make an't want to prediction, because i don't know. but i also think there comes a time to hang out and move on and somebody else to take over. that is true if you are running a company, if you are vice president, or if you are president. you get to the point where the years add up, the burdens become tougher to deal with, but as i say, that is a decision that only the egyptians can make. i think they will handle it in an appropriate fashion. i like egypt, i like egyptians, i am fascinated by that country, the history, and they have also been good friends and allies of the united states and we need to treat all of them with the respect they deserve. >> another thing people wanted

to know about was afghanistan. the president has said he is going to have his own surge in afghanistan, a commitment of additional american forces. general petraeus is now involved in running our forces there. from where you sit, is the president doing enough and your judgment to insure that we are successful in afghanistan and pakistan? >> well, first of all, i think the general petraeus appointment makes a lot of sense. general petraeus is one of the most capable officers i have dealt with in all of the years i have spent in government, including my time as defense secretary perry he is a great choice and doing a good job. i think the surge of forces that the administration is committed to and is now implementing is

basically a plus. the key, as i think about afghanistan, is is a very difficult set of circumstances in afghanistan. it is one of the poorest countries and the world. it is a leading producer of error when -- is a leading producer of heroin. warlords operate various places around the country, and you will not a full-blown democracy overnight out of a place that starts as deep in the hole as afghanistan is, even under normal circumstances. on the other hand, we have to get it right over the long haul because it is a base of operations for al qaeda when they killed 3000 americans on 9/11. that is where they started from and trained, and it is very important they not revert back to a safe harbor a sanctuary for terrorist groups tried to kill americans.

it is a worthy objective. i would like to see the administration not get tangled up in deadlines about when they're on to start to withdraw forces. i think that is a huge mistake. it says to the people in afghanistan and in the region that the united states is not want to stay the course. if they just wait us out, we will packaged in and go home, and i think that is a big mistake and it raises questions in the minds of the people about the worth of american commitments and whether or not we are prepared to do what we need to do. in the end, we cannot send forces every place in the world. we have limited resources. but it is also important that where we do operate that we help the locals get into the fight and be able to control their own circumstances, be able to maintain the sanctity of their

sovereign country pakistan is a related problem, neighbors of afghanistan. a lot going back and forth across the border. something important remember about pakistan, large population, a strong streak of islamic fundamentalism in part of the population, and a significant stockpile of nuclear weapons. if pakistan ever goes to the dark side, we will have a big problem on our hands. we cannot afford not to be involved in that part of the world. we need to be there. there's a lot at stake. the strategy pursued and the forces and so forth, those are all subjects for debate, but we cannot walk away. we did once before. we were actively involved when i was on the intel committee in the house some of -- in the house supporting afghan against

the soviets, and then everybody turned and walked away it. the next thing you know, you had the taliban government in afghanistan. in 1996, they confided in us, but laden and he set up shop, -- they invited in at osama bin laden and he set up shop, and the result was the loss of americans at home. we cannot just wash our hands and say is over with, we're done. we don't have that option. >> a number of our audience wanted to know if you could talk about your views on terrorism and preventing terrorist acts in america. you have been critical in the past of the administration of not taking advantage of some of the techniques that you believe were developed legally during the bush should administration. are those criticism still valid, or has the administration gotten better in that regard it in your

judgment? >> the reason i spoke out on their counter-terrorism policy after having been there just a short time was the very first day in office, that first week in office, president obama was talking about now he was going to scrap the terrorist surveillance program, the enhanced interrogation techniques, so forth. the thing that really got my dander up was there were started to talk about prosecuting people out of the agency that had been carrying out our policies. policies approved by the president of the united states and the national security council, which kept us safe for seven and a half years, and we're talking about going after enforcing these folks to hire lawyers and prosecuting them for having followed the lawful orders of the president of the in that state. -- the president of the united

states. think of the precedent that sets. you give somebody a difficult order, tell them to have to perform certain duty on behalf of the u.s. government, and have to look over their shoulder and decide whether or not when we have a change of administration the next president will prosecute them for what the last president told them what to do. that is a huge mistake. up the good news is, i sense, they have backed off on some of their more outrageous propositions. i notice guantanamo bay is still open. [laughter] [applause] the notion that we broke the law on the programs we had in place is simply not true. we went very carefully to the justice department, which is what you doing these things, and got their view of what the statutes provided for.

things like the terrorist surveillance program, for example, which led us intercept incoming calls and communications between suspected dirty members of al qaeda and who they were contacting in the united states. we put that program together and we briefed congress on it. we had senior leadership, chairman, and ranking members of the intel committee, house and senate, and got the respect it leadership and so forth and patted down to the white house. i used to brief them on a regular basis. when some controversy developed over the program, we sat them down in the situation room, briefed them on what we're doing, showed them the reasons, and asked them, do you think we ought to continue this program? they were unanimous, everybody said absolutely. said absolutely.